Collapsible gate.



Patented Feb. 3, 1-914.

A. A. WHITLOCK.

GOLLAPSIBLE GATE.

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APPLIATION FILED MAR. 3, 1913.

IlvQl .|I,|| lllllllllL nien ARTHUR A. W'HITLOCK,Y 0F COUNCIL BLUF'ES, IO'WA.v

COLLAPSBLE GATE.

Specification of Letters E'atent.

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Application le March 3, 1913. Serial No. 751,712.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, ARTHUR A. 7i-rrr- Locn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Council Bluffs, in Pottawattamie county, in the State of Iowa, have invented cert-ain new and useful improvements in Collapsible Gates, anc have described the same in the following specification, illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to that class of collapsible drop gates which individually comprise a number of normally horizontal bars, one above another, separably connected by intersecting links, and slidableV vertically7 between end guides.

It is the object of the invention to insure, in a gate of this kind, the constant parallelism of the bars in all positions of separation or collapse, and by that means to prevent binding friction between the bars and the guides; and in general to producev a superior gate of the specilied class. To this end l incorporate in my improved gate a pair of intersecting links which are slidingly connected at their changeable point of intersection by means of a projecting pin which is carried by one of those links and travels in a slot which is formed in the other link and has a special curvature.

In the accompanying' drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of an elevator gate and a gateway therefor which are constructed in accordance with the principles of my invention, the gate being shown in its closed position. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the same gate and gateway, wide open. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line G-O in Fig. 1.

ln these figures, the gateway, formed between the floors 1 and 2, has-two vertical side posts 3 and il, connected by the crosspiece 14, and having the guiding longitudinal grooves 5 and 6 in their inner faces respectively; while the gate comprises the bars, or rails, 7, S and 9, connected by the intersecting links 10, 11, 12 and 13, and having terminal tongues 15 sliding in those grooves. rlhe two horizontally alining shoulders 16, formed in these grooves respectively, serve to stop in the middle of the gateway the descent of the upper and longer bar 7, when the gate drops down into its shut position; and the like shoulders 17 stop the lower and shorter bar 9 at the bottom of the gateway. Each of the bars has a central longitudinal vertical slot 18 l for the accommodation of the links; and

the latter, being Vof uniform length, are attached, in a lazy-tongs'arrangement, to. the upper and the lower bars and to each other by the pivot pins 19 crossing these slots. 0f these pins, two, which couple the links together in pairs, and project horizontally therefrom, are slidable 'freely in the central alining slots 2O which perforate horizontally the middle cross bar S. Parallelism between the upper and the lower cross bars, as they move in the vert-ical` slots 5 and G, is constantly maintained by the intersection of the pin 21 and the slot 22. The. pin, projecting horizontally from the middle of the link 13, slides sidewise from end to end of the slot; and the slot, perforating the middle of the link 12, has a width suliicient to accommodate the pin sliding therein, an upward concavo-conveX curvature from end to end, a uniform cross section, and a length as great as the relative distance traversed by the pin in passing bctween the positions shown. Constructively the position, length and curvature of this slot may be predetermined by marking on the face of the link 12, while yet a blank, the arc described by the pin 21 while the gate otherwise complete, is in the act of opening or closing with its upper and lower cross bars held strictly parallel by hand. llrom this construction it results, conversely, that the parallelism of the cross bars, one of the above stated objects of the invention, is maintained in all their movements; the lower cross bar may even be lifted by hand at either end without tilting from its horizontal position, and hence without binding in the guiding groot/*es 5 and 6 in which 'it abuts.

To facilitate the operation of the gate, a weight 23, lighter than the lower cross bar, and controlled by the spring catch 2l, is attached to that bar by a rope 25 running in the overhead pulleys 26.

l claim as my invention- 1. A collapsible gate of the specified class, comprising horizontal bars, one above another, slidable vertically in a pair of guides, a pair of intersecting links pivoted to the top bar, and a pair of intersectino links pivoted to the bottom bar and also pivoted to the upper links respectively; the lower links having respectively a curved slot and a pin slidable therein.

2. A collapsible drop gate, comprising ay par number' ot' horizontal bars, one above another, sliding vertically between stationary end guides, a pair of links pivoted to the top bar, a pair of links pivoted to the bottom bar, and pivot pins connecting the links of the one pair to the links of the other pair` and supporting an intermediate bar slidable thereon; the lower links having respectively a curved slot and a projecting pin slidable in the slot.

A collapsible gate comprising three horizontal bars, one above another, slidingly abutting in vertical guides, a pair of interseating upper links pivoted to the top bar, a pair of intersecting lower links pivoted to the bottom bar, two projecting pins pivotally connecting the upper links to the lower links respectively, and sliding in horizontal alining slots in the intermediate bar; the lower links having respectively a curved slot and a projecting pivot pin slidable in that slot.

i-. A collapsible gate ot the specified class, comprising an upper horizontal bar, an upper pair of intersecting links pivoted thereto, an under horizontal bar, an under pair of intersecting links pivoted thereto, and to the upper links, an intermediate horizontal longitudinally slot-ted bar suspended from the links by pins projecting from the links and slid-able in the slotted bar; the lower links having a sliding engagement at their movable point of intersection by means of a pin projecting from the middle of one of the lower links and working in a curved slot formed in the other.

A collapsible gate of the speciiied class. comprising a pair of stationary longitudinally slotted vertical guides, slidable horizontal bars, one above another, terminally i abutting against the guides, a pair ot' intersecting upper links terminally pivoted to the top bar, a pair ot intersecting lower links terminally pivoted to the upper links respectively and to the lower bar, and an intermediate horizontal bar suspended from the links; the lower links having respectively a central curved slot and a central projecting pin slidable in the slot.

6. A collapsible drop gate, comprising vertical guides, horizontal bars, one above another, slidable in the guides, a counterbalancing weight attached to the bottoni bar, a pair of links pivoted to the top bar, and a pair of links pivoted to the bottom bar and to the upper links, and having respectively a curved slot and a pin slidable in the slot.A

7. A collapsible gate, comprising vertically slotted end guides, horizontal bars slidable to and from each other in the guides, and provided with longitudinal central 1nutually registering vertical slots, a pair of upper links pivoted in the slot of the top bar, a pair of lower links pivoted to the upper links respectively and in the slot of the bottom bar; said links being collapsible into the slots, and the lower links having a slidable pivotal connection with each other.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

lViLLARD EDDY, Lona POWER'.

Copies of this patent 'may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ot Patents, Washington. D. 

